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p The young people of the world are becoming increasingly active in the working-class struggle with the passing of the years. They are strongly opposing wars, the bourgeois governments’ attempts to overcome economic difficulties at the expense of the working people, and the reactionaries’ onslaught on democratic gains.

p The younger generation’s actions reflect the profound crisis in modern bourgeois society. The International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, held in Moscow in June 1969, made a very accurate assessment of current events and youth participation in them. The Meeting’s main document, entitled “Tasks at the Present Stage of the Struggle Against Imperialism and United Action of Communist and Workers’ Parties and All Anti-Imperialist Forces”, said: “Working youth, primarily young industrial workers, who are subjected to super-exploitation and see no prospect for themselves under capitalism, are entering the class struggle to an ever greater extent, joining the trade unions and communist and other democratic organisations. Broad masses of students take a stand not only against the defects of the obsolete system of education and for the right to organise and share actively in the affairs of educational centres but also against the policy of the ruling classes.”

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p The International Meeting, which underscored young people’s active participation in all the important mass movements against imperialism, rated the upswing in the youth movement very highly. At the same time it stressed that “only close unity with the working-class movement and its communist vanguard can open for them truly revolutionary prospects".

p A study of the world youth movement’s history, and also of the struggle for the consolidation of the international communist youth movement’s unity and greater co-operation between the democratic youth of all countries, will be of great help in understanding the processes we are witnessing.

p The international youth movement is an important component of the workers’ and communist movement. At the turn of the century the process of drawing young people into the workers’ revolutionary struggle was a difficult one. The bourgeoisie, with the whole system of youth education in its hands, tried to distract young people away from politics and blind them with homilies about public interests and peace between the classes. The employment of children and adolescents and their brutal exploitation forced young people to fight for the improvement of their economic position. After studying the experience gained by adult workers in their struggle, young people came to the conclusion that they should join forces and set up their own organisations. Such prominent leaders of the world revolutionary movement as Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin and Wilhelm Pieck helped the young people enormously in this respect.

p For several years after their establishment, these youth organisations were under the ideological influence and organisational guidance of the 7 Social-Democratic parties of the Second International, largely as a result of which they had no clear-cut views on the economic and political struggle, and this prevented the youth movement in Western Europe from taking the road of the workers’ revolutionary struggle. It must be noted, however, that even at this time the best young people, those who were resolute, courageous and capable of sacrificing themselves for the sake of victory, joined the progressive workers’ ranks.

p Young people played an extremely important role in all the stages of the working-class movement. They took an active part in all the workers’ mass actions. Lenin pinned high hopes on the young revolutionaries and their participation in the revolutionary struggle, the road which he tried to help them take. In his letters and articles, he called on Party workers to encourage young people to join their ranks. This was one of the most important tasks facing the Party at the time.

p The allegations made by such bourgeois historians as Ralf Fischer and Richard Cornell that Lenin “made little mention of the young people and their problems" until 1917 are a downright lie.

p Lenin drew the Party workers’ attention to the need to educate young people by practical work, and strongly attacked those who did not trust them owing to their inexperience. During the first Russian revolution of 1905, Lenin wrote: "The people in Russia are legion; all we have to do is to recruit young people more widely and boldly, more boldly and widely, and again more widely and again more boldly, without fearing them. This is a time of war. The youth—the students, 8 and still more so the young workers—will decide the issue of the whole struggle."  [8•1 

p Lenin emphasised the need to attract young people into the Party and make them its reserve; he strongly and consistently fought against the deep-seated conviction that young people are a force which for the time being must be kept away from the political struggle.

p Lenin, who was closely connected with the world working-class movement and later headed the international communist movement, devoted much attention to youth organisations.

p When the question of anti-militarist activities was raised at the Stuttgart International Socialist Congress (1907), Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg foresaw the gigantic tasks which would face young people in the workers’ revolutionary struggle in the near future and stressed that youth must be educated in the spirit of internationalism.  [8•2 

p The world bourgeoisie, preparing to battle for the redivision of markets and territories, attached great importance to the growth and consolidation of the army. The workers had to step up antimilitarist propaganda among young people, who were liable to be called up for active service. Describing the experience gained in this work by the young socialist workers’ leagues, Lenin wrote: “Everywhere anti-militarist propaganda among young workers has yielded excellent results. That is of tremendous importance. The worker who goes into the army as a class-conscious SocialDemocrat is a poor support for the powers that be."  [8•3 

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p In support of this conclusion, Lenin cited tfte activities of the young workers’ leagues in France, Belgium and Austria. He wrote: “In France, the anti-militarist mood has become massive. During the strikes at Dunkirchen, Creusot, Loguivi, Monso-le-Min the soldiers ordered against the strikers declared their solidarity with the workers. ..."  [9•1 

p Lenin drew attention to the West European youth organisations’ achievements in spreading anti-militarist propaganda and winning over the army to the people’s side. He emphasised: “As time goes on, there are more and more SocialDemocrats in the army and the troops become increasingly less reliable. When the bourgeoisie has to confront the organised working class, whom will the army back? The young socialist workers are working with all the enthusiasm and energy of the young to have the army side with the people."  [9•2 

p Young people began to participate in the workers’ revolutionary actions on a mass scale during the First World War. The best young workers, free of petty-bourgeois illusions and reformism, protested against the wholesale slaughter of peoples and stood up for the unity of the internationalist elements in the world working-class movement during the trying years when Social-Democratic leaders openly joined the imperialist camp and many workers in the belligerent countries withdrew from the revolutionary struggle, swayed by their leaders’ betrayal and by the atmosphere of frenzied chauvinism.

p During the war the celebration of International Youth Day (IYD) became especially important; 10 it was the young people’s sign of protest against the ban on celebrating May Day (Working People’s International Solidarity Day). Like all other young people’s public protests during the First World War, International Youth Day was accompanied by the slogan “Down with the Imperialist War!”. It was celebrated for the first time on October 3, 1915 in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, the United States, Rumania and Portugal by about 120,000 persons. Since then more countries have begun to celebrate it.

p During the First World War young people were very active in all the workers’ public protests. In Germany young workers took part in 1916 May Day demonstrations and the protest movement against Karl Liebknecht’s arrest. In Italy members of socialist youth organisations filed through the streets on May Day with the slogan “Down with the War! Long Live the Social Revolution!" Many members of youth organisations and their leaders were arrested and tried for taking part in this demonstration and other actions.

p The consistent and unremitting struggle waged by Lenin, the Bolsheviks and the Left-wing internationalists sharply furthered young workers’ participation in the revolutionary struggle in the West European countries. It promoted unity among them and helped to free them from the fetters of social-reformism and Right-wing socialtraitors.

p Many prominent Bolshevik leaders, living in emigration in the West European countries, took an active part in the youth movement during the First World War. They did not confine themselves to giving advice, but rendered practical assistance in the establishment of genuinely revolutionary organisations in these countries. Among 11 them were Georgy Chicherin in France, Alexandra Kollontai in the Scandinavian countries, Inessa Armand in Switzerland and France, and Nadezhda Krupskaya in Switzerland.

p During the world war most leagues of the Young Socialist International took an internationalist stand. The Berne Conference of the Socialist Unions of Youth, held in the spring of 1915 and attended by Inessa Armand and Yegorov, who were delegated by Lenin to represent the Bolshevik Party, stressed that a decisive struggle had to be waged against the opportunists and Centrists in the working-class movement.

p Following the Berne Conference the Bolsheviks exercised a growing influence on the International’s youth leagues. The Young Socialist International’s stand on the most important political and tactical questions became more and more clearcut, and it began to defend the world solidarity of the workers and to hold up the social-patriots’ betrayal to shame. It was one of the first to join the Zimmerwald union  [11•1 ; also, it put its official publication, the Jugend Internationale (Young International) magazine, at the disposal of the Zimmerwald Left group. Lenin, Karl Liebknecht, Alexandra Kollontai and other prominent leaders of the world working-class movement contributed to the magazine.

p Recalling his talks with Lenin, Willi Miinzenberg, leader of the Young Socialist International during the First World War, wrote that they helped him and other Swiss internationalists to break with the pacifist and Centrist groups and 12 armed them with a revolutionary world outlook.

p “Lenin explained to us the structure of Kautsky’s falsified superficial ’Marxism’ and his theoretical school of thought which was based entirely on historical development of economic conditions and barely recognised the importance of subjective factors in the struggle for socialism. Contrariwise, Lenin emphasised the role of the individual and the masses in the historical process, and brought to the foreground the Marxist theory that within the framework of any given economic conditions the people made their own history. This emphasis on the importance of the individual, group and party in the social struggle produced the strongest impression on us and encouraged us to devote all our energy to achieving the maximum results.

p “The greatest contribution to the rapid revolutionary development of the Socialist Youth International after the Berne Conference was made by Lenin himself. Without the personal and comradely help which he gave us most tactfully, the International Youth Bureau in Zurich would have been of little use to the youth movement during 1914-18."  [12•1 

p The First World War and the collapse of the Second International prepared the youth organisations to play an important role in the struggle for the establishment of new workers’ parties, parties of a revolutionary type, free from opportunism and social-chauvinism. To achieve this, the young people had to carry out extensive organisational and political work. Stressing the importance of the tasks facing socialist youth 13 organisations, Lenin wrote: “With this state of affairs in Europe, there falls on the League of Socialist Youth Organisations the tremendous, grateful but difficult task of fighting for revolutionary internationalism, for true socialism and against the prevailing opportunism which has deserted to the side of the imperialist bourgeoisie."  [13•1 

p Many articles in the Jugend Internationale magazine were designed to instil a deep sense of internationalism in the young people in the West European countries. The magazine won high prestige and became the leading centre of the socialist youth organisations by always keeping its readers in touch with the workers’ revolutionary activities in various countries, and by describing the youth leagues’ activities and publishing material which was of interest to young people as a whole. It was from this magazine that young people took up Lenin’s appeal to establish the Third, Communist International.

p The Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 in Russia gave a powerful impetus to the development of the world working-class movement. Youth organisations warmly welcomed the proletarian revolution in Russia and the establishment of Soviet power there.

p Young people took an active part in the workers’ revolutionary activities in the West European countries and showed considerable courage and heroism in the workers’ struggle.

p Youth organisations actively helped to set up young Communist parties. In Spain, Belgium and Sweden they became the framework of the Communist parties, which adhered to the platform of the Communist International.

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p The history of the youth movement took a sharp turn when the Third, Communist International was set up. Lenin took an active part in its establishment after the collapse of the Second International.

p The question of setting up an international union of young Communists was raised immediately after the First Congress of the new Communist International. The Executive Committee of the Communist International made a passionate appeal to young workers in all countries to set up the Youth International. This was immediately supported by progressive organisations. The Young Communist International held its Constituent Congress in Berlin in November 1919, which was attended by representatives of 14 young workers’ unions with a total membership of 229,000.

p The congress, which formulated the Young Communist International’s political Programme and Rules and declared its adherence to the platform of the Communist International, gave a strong impetus to the consolidation of existing youth organisations and to the establishment of new ones in Asia and America.

p Although Lenin was extremely busy at the time, he devoted much attention to the international youth movement; he talked to the leaders of the Young Communist International and helped them in their practical work. He always tried to ensure that the rising generation was educated in accordance with the ideas of proletarian internationalism, the need for the youth movement’s political guidance, the unity of young people round Communist parties and unity of action of Communist parties and communist youth organisations.

p The Third Congress of the Young Communist International, held in Moscow in December 1922, 15 was attended by representatives of 38 youth organisations from various countries. It discussed the most important tasks facing the young workers’ movement: the fight against both fascism and the threat of war, and the need to turn the young communist leagues into mass organisations which would be a militant reserve and active helpmate for Communist parties.

p Lenin devoted a great deal of care and attention to the problems facing young people, and his active participation in the elaboration of a correct political line for the young communist movement determined the Young Communist International’s place in the vanguard of those fighting against capitalism.

p The Young Communist International, which helped to disseminate Marxist-Leninist ideas among young workers in many countries, was the Third International’s reliable helpmate and reserve for almost 25 years. The young communist leagues had always given loyal assistance to the Communist parties. By uniting the young communist leagues against fascism and war and by guiding them in the working-class struggle, the Young Communist International made an important contribution to the world working-class movement and the struggle for the bright future of mankind—communism.

p The Young Communist International laid the foundations for the young revolutionaries’ mass movement, helped to set up strong national youth organisations and trained the personnel of the young communist movement. It prepared thousands of fine young people to fight for the cause of the working class, and produced such prominent leaders of the international workers’ and communist movement as Raymond Guyot, John 16 Gollan, Luigi Longo, Francois Billoux, Georges Cogniot and Otto Winzer.

Over 50 years have passed since the establishment of the Young Communist International. The young communist leagues, closely linked with the Communist parties and continuing the best traditions of the Young Communist International, are now playing a very important part in the youth movement, which has millions of members united by the World Federation of Democratic Youth. These leagues are the most consistent and unremitting defenders of the young workers’ interests today.

Lenin